


Literary Whiplash

by Apnsb, Beech27, BlueRaith, iviscrit, michellemagly, Progman, Shigan, Sy_Itha, WordsToShare



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-03-22 19:06:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3740194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apnsb/pseuds/Apnsb, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beech27/pseuds/Beech27, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRaith/pseuds/BlueRaith, https://archiveofourown.org/users/iviscrit/pseuds/iviscrit, https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellemagly/pseuds/michellemagly, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Progman/pseuds/Progman, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shigan/pseuds/Shigan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sy_Itha/pseuds/Sy_Itha, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsToShare/pseuds/WordsToShare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No Betas, No Mercy</p><p>An improvisational fanfic brought to you by some of your favorite (?) authors in the fandom! No notes, no plans, no outlines, no communication; just a rotating chapter author order. We’re throwing words all over the walls and seeing what sticks and/or comes out the other side.</p><p>Characters and tags updated as needed, because everyone's probably showing up at some point. Rating subject to change, because, well... you know. Or at least you hope. </p><p>Authors listed in alphabetical order, because Ao3 says so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Red Vines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beech27 is batting leadoff

Wandering the abandoned buildings of Republic City, pilfering, snagging, grabbing, taking, snatching - but never stealing, since no one was around to say no - Quan loved Kuvira. Not in the way that many of her followers had, keep in mind. He wasn’t walking around with her face on a t-shirt like some silly fanatic. And he wasn’t about to follow her into any sort of battle, because he wasn’t in her army. Armies never seemed like a good fit for him. He liked his hair long, his mustache ragged, and his morals loose. Even walking in even step with other soldiers seemed like a real pain in the ass. Literally. He’d tried marching in place once - just once, mind - and all the muscles of his backside were on fire the next day. He resolved then to walk like he did naturally. It’d been getting him around for long enough - thirty some odd years now - so there was likely no reason to change. 

Of course, he’d had to do some walking because of Kuvira. Literally and figuratively. Some long time ago, he’d been one of Kuvira’s targeted bandits - though he resented that term. Opportunist, he preferred. Just took advantage of the low hanging fruit. Someone had to pick it. Then someone had to eat it. If it was him, and his folks, then where was the harm in that? Well, other than with the villagers whose food and water they took. Probably harmed them quite a bit. But that wasn’t Quan’s concern. Never had been, and never would have been. 

His concern didn’t arrive until the train did, with Kuvira on it. The so-called Great Uniter had stood on her shiny snake, prim and proper as you please, then unleashed a torrent of metal that took down each and every one of his brothers. Quan had seen from the hill, because he hadn’t bothered coming down it. Rolled his ankle earlier that morning, and their whole ‘sliding down a cliff face on a boulder’ routine didn’t sit real well with him. They understood, or at least they said they did. Couple gave him shifty glances, but he returned those right enough. Made sure to keep limping on his left leg - or was it the right? - in the hours before the train arrived. They knew it was coming, of course. Wasn’t any kind of secret. Nothing Kuvira did was secret. Promoted with posters and pamphlets and all the other propaganda you could want. It was all stupid. Or at least, Quan figured it was. Couldn’t read, so the pamphlets might’ve been pure poetry, so far as he knew. Of course, he never cared much for poetry either. Just ugly word salad. And salad wasn’t any good either.

Quan had found his legs then, right enough. Set to running across that great expanse, right the opposite way of Kuvira and her train. If she wanted soldiers, he wanted out. Wherever out was, didn’t much matter. After a few hours or a few days - he was hot and hungry and could not rightly remember - Quan stumbled up to a dirt road. And that was being generous. It wasn’t much more than a set of tire imprints that people kept following, maybe out of habit, maybe out of usefulness. Either way, Quan found those tracks, and set his two feet inside one of them. He walked and he baked under that naked sun, and he felt like his skin was turning to leather over his bones in a matter of minutes. Or maybe it was another day or so. Probably not, though, because he couldn’t remember a night passing. Though would he be able to remember it? Hard to say for certain, so best not to say at all. 

Eventually, a car came around. Quan didn’t know much about cars but this one appeared to have all four wheels and it was running, and he knew that just by looking. He also knew that the man in the driver seat was about half his size, and looked near on wetting himself when Quan erected an earth barrier in front of his car. 

“Where ya headed?” asked Quan.

The man stammered and - well, he actually did wet himself - and all the letters making up “Republic City” managed to tumble out of his mouth in just about the right order.

“Mind if I hop in?” Quan let his earthen barrier crumble back into nothing, but picked up a good sized rock, and leveled it at the man’s eyes. 

The driver didn’t move or say a thing, so Quan seated himself. Not much in the way of permission, but it was more than he usually got. Villagers usually told him he couldn’t take their things. Of course, that never stopped him. Quan squirmed into the rough seat, and narrowed that rock into something like a crude knife - must have dropped his metal one a ways back, while running - and pressed it up against the man’s throat. The bitch pissed himself again and Quan grabbed the flask of water sitting in the backseat, opened it up, and chugged the whole damn thing. He was as parched as the dirt outside, and it wasn’t like the driver needed any more liquids. Seemed plenty hydrated, even if most of it was now running down his leg. Made the car smell like… well... like piss, for the duration of the drive, but then Quan didn’t figure he smelled like Spring himself, and he frankly didn’t give a shit. Or a piss, for that matter. 

Getting to Republic City was one thing, finding something to do while there was another. Being honest… Quan didn’t have much in the way of trade skills. Of course, he wasn’t honest, and so he lied out of both his mouth and his ass, trying to get work as everything from a mechanic to a dishwasher to an exotic dancer. He actually got an interview for that last one, and, well… he didn’t get the job, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. And the owner actually said he’d give Quan a call if anything else opened up… but it wasn’t until a couple days later that Quan realized he didn’t have a phone, or a house, for that matter. Not that he didn’t notice he was sleeping in alleys. Hard to miss a thing like that. But you forget all the things you’re missing, when you’re missing everything. Easier still when you never had them to miss. 

Quan was used to not having much. Not having a phone, a roof, or even a bite to eat, some nights. He’d go to sleep with the rumble of his stomach as a lullaby. Those weren’t good nights, but there were enough of them that it all kind of melted together. The sharp edges of the memories disappeared, and eventually, that life of bountiful opportunity on the wild, lawless plains of the Earth Kingdom - before the ‘Empire’ business - seemed awfully appealing. Seemed pretty damn rich, right about now, sleeping under a damp piece of cardboard, looking up at the a sky washed out by the bright lights of the big city. 

He hated Kuvira for taking that life from him. Who was she, anyway? Taking something that didn’t rightly belong to her in the first place. Nothing but a low down dirty you-know-what. And Quan did know what. Might’ve said it too, but there were children walking by the alley. Didn’t even feel comfortable thinking it, in front of them. Never had been comfortable around kids. Weird little bastards. They pointed at him and laughed, and he thought maybe he could’ve put a dirty word in their ears, or maybe a palm upside their heads. Spoiled brats never knew discipline. That’s how they turned out with manners like that. Not like Quan. His father had whupped him daily, and sure, he killed the brute and ran away at thirteen, but it had made a man out of him, right enough. Made him the man he was today… a man sleeping under damp cardboard, in a Republic City alley. 

So maybe it wasn’t the best life. Maybe it was a damn sight worse than his days as a high plains opportunist. Maybe the dumpster didn’t have everything a man could want to eat. But it did always have something to eat. It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t nothing. And in a life spent teetering too close to nothing, Quan was glad for just about anything he could get. He found some sort of red vine candy, and gobbled that up. Berry flavored, probably. What kind of berry didn’t matter much, and anyway, wasn’t like Quan could rightly tell the difference between them. Red candy tasted like a red berry might taste or at least like it ought to taste, and that was good enough. 

Good enough for that night, at least. But that sort of diet wouldn’t sustain a man for long. And so Quan figured he’d best start looking for work again. The sort of work he was well cut out for. He’d heard of the Terra Triads, heard they had an interest in men such as himself. Those who could bend earth and had no troubles bending their own morals to go along with. Quan figured he fit the bill right enough. And he heard they had a more glamorous life in this city, than what he was used to. Fancy cars and fitted suits, smokes that hadn’t been picked out of the dirt, or weren’t half full of sawdust. That all sounded mighty fine to him. The sort of thing he could sink his teeth into. Well, those that were left. A couple were already missing and a couple more figured to follow them out the door pretty soon. Maybe he could afford a dentist too, if this new opportunity panned out? That’d be something.

But right about then, Republic City itself got kicked in the teeth. There wasn’t much warning. At least, there wasn’t much that he knew about. Maybe the papers or the radio had talked about it; but he hadn’t heard a radio in a long while... and, well, you couldn’t read a paper if you couldn’t read the words put on it. So Quon heard some sirens and some confused voice calling out garbled instructions, saying something about Kuvira attacking; then Prince Wu - he’d heard the little shit’s voice once before; and it still sounded just as little, and just as shitty - going on and on about something. Quan didn’t listen. He didn’t much like Kuvira, not considering how she snuffed out his opportunities. But the Royals weren’t much higher on his list. Entitled pricks who were born with one opportunity so big, they never had to dig in the dirt for a thousand others. Not like him. 

But now… now there were opportunities. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Maybe even hundreds of thousands. Quan didn’t know how many people lived in Republic City, and he couldn’t count too high anyway. But he could figure they were all leaving in a hurry. Leaving so quick that they had to pack light. He licked his lips, and tucked back into his alley. He couldn’t count too high, but he could stand to do some figuring, where money was concerned. That, he didn’t mind so much. 

He did mind the rumbling. At first. Then, he missed the rumbling. He wished it would come back, when it turned to shaking, then to crumbling. Being an earthbender was one thing, but when entire city blocks were collapsing… that was enough to put fear inside any man. Even one such as Quan. He remembered that man in the car, then noticed a dribble of moisture down his own leg. 

He dabbed at the wet spot on his pants with a tattered bit of cloth pulled from the dumpster, then turned to see the sky ripped longways by a purple beam. There was silence for half a moment. Quan held his breath, and it felt like the whole world did too. 

“Son of a-”

The world exhaled, then it roared. Everything went to shit. 

Quan dove into the dumpster, and bent a shelter around it. It wasn’t his best work, but then his best work had come when his hands weren’t trembling. And now the whole ground was trembling too. Trembling like it was about to be split open, just as the sky had been. 

Quan trembled in that darkness for as long as he heard the explosions, and as long as he felt the ground shake. That took a while. Then, he trembled in the darkness for two sleeps, until his vision and sensations became memory. And memory couldn’t rightly hurt a man. Not like a falling building, or whatever that purple light was. 

He didn’t know, and he couldn’t possibly make a guess. Of course, he couldn’t bother caring either. With silence and steadiness all around, greed entered his mind. But not greed, really. Just an opportunity. Just a man taking things others didn’t want. They’d left them behind, hadn’t they? That was as good as giving them away. He was just collecting. 

And damn, was the collecting good. The first night, he found himself an apartment with running water. He figured that was a good get, what with the city being in ruins. And he didn’t figure anyone would mind for a good long while. Once anyone did mind… well, he could give them a piece of his. Maybe a piece of rock upside their head, until their mind was spilled out on the floor. People didn’t seem so disagreeable, when you put things in those terms. 

The days that followed might have turned into weeks, but Quan couldn’t rightly say. Couldn’t be bothered to care, either. He wasn’t measuring his existence in time anymore. Time was for survivors. He was an opportunist, and such people measured their life in opportunities seized. Judging by how fast his apartment was filling up, Quan was seizing quite a bit. Enough art to fill a museum; enough jewelry to to melt down and outfit another Earth Empire army; and enough bills to… well, to spend on whatever he damn well pleased, once businesses opened back up. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry, and he wasn’t either. This was the best damn opportunity of his miserable life, and Kuvira of all people had given it to him. And he loved her for it. He didn’t know what had happened to her, or her army. But he was happy enough not to see them. Good riddance, and fuck off. He didn’t know why there was a golden stream of light, pissing its way up into the sky. But it made for bright nights, which made for very visible opportunities. So he was fine with it. This was his city now, and he was free to roam wherever he pleased, and take whatever he wanted.

That included the Spirit Wilds. He’d heard of them, way back when. Couldn’t remember much about it, or why they were called wild in the first place. They seemed pretty damn calm, truth be told. Sure, there were all sorts of strange things whisping around; but they were spirits and he wasn’t, and that should count for something, right? So long as they were in his world, he was boss. Made sense to him, and whenever he told them as much, they never denied it. So they probably agreed too. 

At least, he thought they did. But on this night in particular, one seemed like it wanted to argue. Leastways, that it wanted to tease. He thought he saw something gold dangling off of it. And maybe he was wrong, but it was just so bright he couldn’t resist. And anyway, the spirit itself wasn’t gold. He couldn’t rightly say what color it was, actually, since it seemed to be all of them at once, and then none at all. And its shape was the most simple and familiar thing he’d ever seen, and yet something he never had. He wasn’t sure about much, and in a clear mind, he might not have chased after the thing, when it vanished into the Wilds. 

But the Wilds didn’t look so wild anyway. And so he followed. The light from that big yellow something or other seemed to leak through the vines like motor oil, and it seemed suddenly just about as dark. But then… he could still see. It just wasn’t like he was used to seeing. Like he was seeing through his eyes, but not with his eyes. He blinked nervously, then slapped himself. 

“Get it together,” he whispered. 

It seemed like there was a response. Not vocal, and in fact he couldn’t hear anything at all. But he could feel it. Sense it. Deep within his bones and then deeper down in his gut, he could feel it. A creeping dread unlike anything he’d ever known. He thought about twisting an ankle, or pretending to, but then he remembered where he was. 

He turned, took off at a dead sprint, and made it four steps, before colliding with a thick wall of vines. 

Quan’s hands went to his head first, like he could rub the ache out of it. But there was nothing for it. Maybe there were some pills back home. There damn sure was some cactus juice, and that would do the trick. Or it would do a trick. Any trick would do, really. Just so long as he could get home. Only thing about that, the vines didn’t seem to open. Not like they had. There was a path here before. How else would he have arrived here? Maybe he’d gotten turned around. Maybe that was it. Quan pressed his hands up against the vines, but the found no grip, and slid right away. Looking at his hands… maybe it was the lighting, or the lack, but they looked red. Didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except getting out. If there wasn’t a path, he’d make one. He pulled up chunks of earth, and fired them at the vines. Nothing. He sharpened them, and sliced, then sawed. Nothing. 

Quan turned left, then right, then back left again. It was all suddenly very open. Like the vines had pulled back, then shot straight up. His eyes followed up a shape that looked vaguely like a person, if a person could be made of vines, and then settled on two bright purple orbs, resting near the top. How many stories high, he couldn’t rightly say. Never was much good at counting. 

Never was much good at running either. Certainly not fast enough to escape the pod of vines that hovered overhead, reached, and then came down.

“Son of a-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> silkarc is up to the plate
> 
> ~Rotation Order~
> 
> [Beech27], *silkarc*, BlueRaith, Progman, Sy_Itha, iviscrit, apnsb, SimplyKorra, Ruminant Monk, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Repeat.


	2. Cinnamon Sticks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami receive the devastating news that the city is under attack. Again.
> 
> by silkarc

It’s a beautiful day on the outskirts of republic city, the birds are singing, the air’s crisp and clean, and Asami is ever so in love. She’s swimming around in her luxurious sixty-foot heated swimming pool, and smiling to herself as she thinks about the hijinks she got up to with Korra last night.

They’ve been back in the city for just over a week, stopping over at one of her spare mansions, and she’s fairly certain that there isn’t a square inch left in this home that they haven’t greased up with engine oil.

She’s dwelling on a particular thought involving a wrench, car bonnet and a packet of cinnamon sticks, when she suddenly realises Korra’s been gone a while... it was only supposed to be a potty break.

“AVATARRRR BOMB!”

She cranes her neck upward, and sure enough, there’s a bonze ass heading straight at her, meaning she has to take immediate evasive action, like a snake-mole dodging a hot piece of coal that’s fallen off the barbeque of a local rowdy picnic.

She half-drowns in the water-crater that only the Avatar’s buttocks could cause, and when she comes up spluttering for air, she’s met with a bronze-skinned, wide mouthed, cockily grinning, blue eyed, somewhat-shorter than her but smokin’ hot water-tribe woman.

“You could have killed me…” she coughs, not feeling particularly impressed despite the raw sex appeal that’s radiating towards her.

“Awwww ‘Samiii” Korra grins, “Don’t be like that. Look!”

She’s mesmerised as Korra starts flexing sensual bronze guns right at her… they’re bulging, like a sack of potatoes that’s been overfilled due to a mechanical flaw in the potato-sack filling machine on line number six. She wants to reach out, and lick them.

“Mmmm… Korra… if you don’t behave yourself, we won’t be getting out of this pool any time soon…” her voice is deep, husky, like a faulty sub-woofer that constantly emits a deep hum and never goes silent.

“Well, wouldn’t that be a shame?” Korra’s wiggling her sexy avatar-brows, daringly displaying her best bedroom-eyes, and it’s making Asami feel like a kernel of corn that’s about to pop into a flower of puffy goodness, with a hard chewy bit in the middle.

She takes the opportunity to counter-attack Korra’s sexual prowess, and flicks her hair over her shoulder with great gusto. She’s pleased with herself when, as a result, Korra’s swimsuit flies off and crashes through a window.

Korra is stood in temporary sexual shock from the level ten hair attack. Asami has the upper hand.

“Korra… I want to chew on your sushi and drink deeply from your golden cup.” She growls, looking at Korra with dangerous, lidded, half closed, sultry, sexy, green, and ruthless eyes.

“Sure thing!” Korra leans behind herself and pulls out a tray.

“Great, thanks!” Asami accepts the plate of tiny rice-encased delicacies, and pops them in her mouth one at a time, “Mmm perfect!”

“Hey, Asami, check it!” Korra tries to get her attention as she finishes drinking the delicious juice, fascinated by how perfectly it accompanies the fishy, meaty feast.

What she isn’t prepared for is the sight of Korra, fully flexed out, washboard abs begging her to rub her nose against them. Her swimming costume disintegrates at the sight, and now they’re both naked, and there’s a thick tension in the air, like the fog one always sees just before a zombie apocalypse, but minus the fog.

“Korra…” her throats dry. Her pulse is pulsing, and there’s blood in her veins. She floats up to Korra, leans into that sexy earlobe and whispers, “I want you to grease my engine, tighten my spark plugs, and then… fiddle with my fuse box... mhhmmm”

Korra looks a little confused, then turns around, gets out of the pool and sprints away.

“Oh for fucks sake… not this again…” Asami places a palm on her forehead, then rolls her eyes.

“I DIDN’T MEAN LITERALLY!” she cries, but its’ too late, Korra’s sprinting away, her bronze arms glistening in the midday sun like wet marbles rolling across the arid sands of a never-ending desert.

Asami sighs, resigned to her fate, and places her arms on the ledge behind her. She allows her legs to float, and starts to reminisce on their recent spirit world adventure. _Such good times_ … she’s wiggling her toes with merry glee as she’s about to get lost in the more interesting memories, but then she hears a heavy patter of feet.

“For shit’s sake Korra, don’t tell me you actually did all of that...”

“Huh? What?” The voice doesn’t belong to Korra. She opens her eyes to see a very flustered, very out of breath Zhu-Li panting by the side of the pool. She coughs.

“Never mind… is everything okay? Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?”

“Got back yesterday, and well… yeah, long story short, we accidentally did something involving spirit vines. Where’s Korra?”

“Probably looking for a fuse box.” She sighs. She’ll really have to work on Korra’s selective ability to take things literally. But, that’s for another time.

“Riiight. Anyway, republic city is being destroyed. We accidentally made a giant spirit-vine monster. It’s out of control. Thought you should know.” Zhu-Li says matter-of-factly, whilst removing her steam-covered glasses and wiping them off.

“The city’s being destroyed? Again? Haha. Hah.” Asami’s mouth twitches at the corner. She tries to remain calm, but underneath her bad-ass cool exterior, she’s feeling rage, rage equivalent to a hundred air bison discovering that instead of the ability to fly, they have the ability to be _pissed off_.

“What’s up babe?” It’s Korra, interrupting her thoughts, slipping back into the pool and looking very out of breath.

“Okay… why are you both naked?” Zhu Li asks, frowning.

“Oh, she flipped her hair.”

“She flexed.”

“Ah, I see.” Zhu-Li nods solemnly at the explanation, “With Varrick, it just takes a few naked hip thrusts.”

“Too. Much. Information.” Korra says, waving a hand and looking slightly green, “Anyway, why’re you here?”

“I was just telling Salami, there’s a giant spirit-vine tree-monster, and it’s tearing up the city. It’s probably immortal, and we should definitely _not_ use spirit energy against it.”

“A GIANT MONSTER? YES!!!” Korra roars, apparently choosing to ignore the finer details, and Asami can almost see stars in those gorgeous, sexy, soul destroying, glimmering blue eyes.

Korra quickly water-bends out of the pool and runs into the house, whooping with glee, and Asami realises it’s been quite some time since Korra’s seen any of _that_ kind of action, so she allows herself to get carried away by her excitement.

“Let’s try out my latest invention!” she says to Zhu-Li, feeling a sudden thrill that she’ll be able to unleash the rage welling inside of her.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, you’ll see…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BlueRaith! I choose you!
> 
> ~Rotation Order~
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], *BlueRaith*, Progman, Sy_Itha, iviscrit, apnsb, SimplyKorra, Ruminant Monk, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Repeat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra deals with holding a committee of all things over the threat.
> 
> By BlueRaith

I couldn't believe we were here, _discussing_ the problem. We were _just_ told something was attacking Republic City, again, but here were were talking about it on Air Temple Island. I figured we should have been looking for it, but apparently that would be too rash. And I thought I had gotten more patient in this Avatar stuff but Tenzin and Raiko apparently disagreed.

We were waiting for everyone to arrive. I didn't know where the spirit monster went, and I thought that would be an important thing to know, and I was eager to find out. Asami was sitting beside me, the traitor, she had sided with Tenzin over having a _meeting_ of all things; and she was talking with Zhu-Li about what had happened. She wasn't happy about what Zhu-Li and Varrick had done to create the monster, and I wasn't either. I thought they had done away with experimenting on spirit vines, but I guess Varrick just couldn't help himself. He had already create a giant spirit canon, now it was an _actual_ spirit monster. He was probably the most dangerous man in the world right now, considering the fact that he couldn't keep himself from discovering or creating super weapons.

“Okay. So, you decided to experiment with _bigger_ samples of the vines? Zhu-Li, why didn't you say anything?” Asami asked exasperatedly. I knew she and Varrick didn't see eye to eye very much, and I thought it was funny that he wasn't here right now. Maybe he thought we would be mad at him. Or maybe he just didn't get what he did and was preoccupied with something else that was completely crazy. Yeah, that sounded more like him.

“I did! But I thought he would just experiment on them anyway, so I decided it would be better if I was there to assist and keep him from doing anything _too_ crazy. But we never anticipated the sample would mutate into a giant _monster!_ If we end up capturing it, we should probably keep a sample of it. I would like to see why it reacted the way it did….”

Yeah, I was surrounded by crazy people. Asami worked with stuff I barely understood, just like Varrick and Zhu-Li, and they all seemed to get caught up with whatever they were working on. It looked cute on Asami, but it was downright worrying on Varrick. I never knew what the man was going to come up with. At least with Asami I knew she would try her hardest to make sure her inventions actually _helped_ people. Instead of, I don't know, destroying the city we all lived in. At least the people hadn't moved back yet. Only, I knew we wouldn't be able to keep them all away forever. We needed to find this thing fast before the more stubborn citizens in the city decided they had waited long enough for us to beat Kuvira's army and to rebuild basic housing for them. I knew they'd want to find what belongings they could, or take what wasn't being watched….

“Okay, that's great and all, but do we know where it _went?_ I thought you said it was destroying the city?” I asked crossing my arms with a huff. I didn't really want to admit it, but I was actually looking forward to seeing what this was all about. I loved the vacation Asami and I went on, for uh… many reasons, but I was eager to jump back into things. Asami didn't want to say anything either, but I knew us both too well. Neither of us could stand being out of the thick of things for too long.

“Actually yes,” Tenzin said as he walked into the room with Raiko and Lin. We had been waiting for Lin and Mako to _finally_ show up. Apparently they had been investigating what they could at the scene. A scene I hadn't been able to see yet.

“I was able to follow it as it wrecked the city,” Mako said tiredly. He was covered in dirt and soot, no doubt trying to avoid whatever the heck this thing could do. “It went into the spirit portal. After that, I lost it. I don't know if it's going to come back, or if it's going to do anything there, but we decided to call you. None of us besides you and Asami have been into this spirit portal.”

“What I want to know, is _why_ you were experimenting on the vines!” Raiko demanded angrily. “I thought you told me that you weren't going to be creating any spirit super weapons! Is this some kind of joke, or have you been commissioned to build something?” He was glaring at Zhu-Li as he said this, and she didn't look very impressed. I don't think Raiko's anger stood a candle to Varrick's manic behavior.

“President Raiko! Just the man I was looking for,” Varrick himself came into the room, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. Yeah, he wasn't afraid anyone's anger as far as I could see. Something he better fix if he wanted to keep Asami happy. She wasn't going to take him acting like a kid for long.

“I thought to myself, man this city is a _wreck!_ We need a way to fix it pronto and I figured why not get a spirit to help? So me and Zhu-Li whipped up our friend to clear debris as fast as possible with Kuvira's spirit canon as an inspiration! We'll get this place cleaned up fast now,” he grinned winningly.

“Varrick, honey...” Zhu-Li said disbelievingly, but Asami beat her the punch, standing up in a flash to glare at him.

“Okay, are you _serious?!”_ She growled. “That _thing_ is destroying the city. Again! How can you actually think this is helping? This is completely irresponsible, even for you! I can't believe you actually did this somewhat purposefully! Zhu-Li said it was an accident!”

“What are you talking about?!” Varrick exclaimed, gesturing wildly out the window at the even more ruined landscape. What had been damaged, but still standing buildings near the spirit portal were now just smoking piles of rubble. “Those buildings were completely condemned! He's just leveling them so we can remove the remains even _faster_! I can't help that Zhu-Li can't always keep up with my vision!”

“Yeah, but you don't even know where it is right now, do you?” I asked him, ignoring Zhu-Li's irritated protest for now. I just couldn't believe he actually thought this was a good thing. “Do you even have a way to control it? It's in the spirit world, Varrick! I can't even begin to tell you all the stuff it could be doing to make the spirits angry and there are _plenty_ of spirits that would love to retaliate against this kind of thing. By attacking _the physical world.”_

“This is ridiculous,” Raiko growled. “I _knew_ that portal was a bad idea in the first place. How could you possibly think leaving it open was a good idea?” he asked me.

“Wait a second, how is this _my_ fault now?” I asked him. “Last I checked, the portal was absolutely fine, I'm not the one creating new spirit monsters to attack the city. I'll stop this thing, but it's not the _portal_ that has anything to do with this. We need to learn to get along with the spirit world, and that includes keeping monsters out of it!” I couldn't believe he was actually trying to shift this one on me. I knew Raiko liked to blame me because it was easy, but this was getting stupid.

“Korra's right,” Tenzin said before an argument could erupt between me and Raiko. Which we both knew was going to happen if someone didn't step in, we didn't see eye to eye on practically anything. “We need to do something about this vine monster immediately. Good intentions or not, the spirits are unlikely to react to a rampaging human creation very well. Our worlds have been forever intertwined, and we must work together to keep our worlds balanced and healthy.”

“Hmph, that's all well and good,” Lin snapped. “But we don't know where the thing has gone in the spirit world. I don't know anything about this spirit mumbo-jumbo, so tracking it is going to be difficult.”

“We'll have to get the spirits to help us,” I told them. Which was going to be a pain. They didn't like to get involved with human problems, something I learned when I asked them to help with Kuvira, and they were going to be very unhappy to learn that the monster was now in their world. I could only hope that some of the more powerful spirits didn't think this was an attack against them by humans.

“We should probably start with Iroh,” I told them with a sigh. He would have the best advice, and he would probably at least _try_ to understand why this happened.

“Fine! Find this thing, get rid of it, and for goodness sake, take Varrick with you,” Raiko snapped. “I don't want him anywhere near Republic City right now.”

“Hey! Is that the way you should treat the engineer that's helping you put this mess back together!” Varrick shouted. Whether he knew he was shouting or not, I didn't know. He probably didn't considering how loud he could get at the best of times.

“Varrick, consider yourself lucky I'm not having you arrested. Not only do we not have a jail right now, thanks to your little experiment, but I'm already cutting you some slack because of your willingness to help rebuild the city. Don't make this worse for yourself,” Raiko sighed as he rubbed his temples. I wondered if his hair had grown more gray while I was gone, or if this was more recent. I wasn't sure, but I guess I couldn't blame him, people like Varrick made our jobs harder than they needed to be. If only he'd stop blaming _me_ for everything and we'd probably get along better….

“If you're coming with us,” Asami snapped, “then you better do everything you can to actually _help_ us. If you do _anything_ to make this even worse….” She was glaring at him and if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Asami was actually intimidating a man that was typically too engrossed in himself to notice something like that. It made me wonder what she must have done to make him properly work with her when they were building the hummingbird suits.

“Alright, alright! Geez, it must be CRIME to do anything to help this city!” Varrick shouted. “Now I see what must be so hard about your job, kid,” he patted me on the shoulder.

“Um, I don't think we have that in common,” I said awkwardly. Yeah, I don't see how he thought what he did has anything at all in common to what I've done to keep the city safe, especially since he actively harmed it this time around, but I guess that wasn't something Varrick liked to think about.

He didn't seem to hear me thought, grabbing Zhu-Li suddenly by the waist. “Come on, Zhu-Li! We need to pack for this expedition, we have no _idea_ what could be out there! Let's do the thing!”

And together, they bounded from the room. Well, Varrick bounded, Zhu-Li was kinda holding on for dear life. I sometimes wondered how she could put up with him, but then again I wondered how Asami could put up with me too, so I guess me and Varrick did have _something_ in common after all.

“Well, now that _he's_ gone...,” Raiko muttered. “You all understand what is at stake here? That thing could return at anytime, through any portal and attack at any moment.”

“Yeah, we get that,” I told him irritably. I mean, nobody here was as deluded as Varrick was. “But do _you_ get that's probably the _best_ thing that could happen besides us capturing it immediately? It could attack the spirit world, or it could be attacking it right now! There are some very powerful and very old spirits that could become angry with humans if they find out we accidentally created this vine monster. The last thing we need is a fight with the spirit world.”

“I will call back as many airbenders as I can, we will need all the help we can get,” Tenzin said gravely.

“Su is still in the city, she could help us as well,” Lin pointed out. “Mako, you'll be on this too.”

“I'm coming too. I don't have much that survived the attacks on my factories, but I hope I can find a few vehicles we can use at one of my warehouses,” Asami said as she gripped her chin. I never doubted that she'd come and to be fair, I didn't want to be away from her right now. I figured she felt the same way on top of the desire to save the world. Again.

I just hoped we could stop this thing before it was too late. I just couldn't believe that Varrick would do something _this_ stupid. I mean, I knew he often created some wacky things, but I just couldn't think that he would make something this uncontrollable. Does he even think about how his inventions would pan out sometimes?

The others filed out pretty quickly, leaving me and Asami to make our way back to her mansion to begin preparing for our trip to the spirit world. Somehow, my things have wandered over to her house and I hoped that no one really noticed that soon. Not that I was worried about what they'd think or anything, but I knew that Mako and Bolin were sure to tease me about that sooner or later and I wanted to put that off for as long as I could.

Asami sighed heavily next to me, and that made me wonder how she must be taking this. She knew how Varrick was better than I did and I wondered if she would have expected this from him.

“Hey, you okay? I know you know him better than I do. What do you think? Was Varrick serious about helping the city or did he do this on purpose? I mean, I don't think he would actually do it on purpose, and I'd hope not, but I kinda have to ask…,” I trailed off.

“No, you're right to wonder. Sometimes I wonder,” she muttered. “No, Varrick's just crazy and he acts like a child. I know he was just trying to help the city, but he can be completely irresponsible sometimes. And now he's loosed a vine monster on the spirit world. Korra, I think this is going to get worse before it gets better. We've both seen how some spirits reacted to us even being there for a vacation. I don't want to think about how they may react to something actively hurting them or their homes.”

She was right. Most of the spirits had liked our visit, as curious about us as we were about them. That and the fact that being the Avatar had a few perks every once in a while. Like being well liked by a lot of spirits. Only, not everyone there liked me, or my past lives actually. Apparently more than a few of them have made some mistakes when it came to relations with the spirit world and they hadn't been happy to see me. Wong Shi Tong had been one, chasing us out of his library before we could even begin to explore it. And I knew that there had to be even worse ones out there that didn't like me.

“We'll find it,” I told her confidently. I mean, I was sure we'd find it. It was a fifty story tall vine monster. Kinda tough to miss. The only question was whether we'd find it in time to stop it from hurting anyone or thing. That I wasn't sure about. And with my luck, it probably wouldn't happen. Asami was right, this was probably going to get worse before it got better.

“I just wish this hadn't happened so soon,” Asami said. “I was hoping this was something we could take care of quickly.”

“Yeah,” I had to agree with that. I was hoping for something I could beat up quickly. I _was_ going a little stir crazy after all those days relaxing. Not that the relaxing was entirely _relaxing._ But yeah… some of that was active, not all of it, but some of it. And that had been fun, not that the rest wasn't also fun, but that was really, really _fun._ Of course, I didn't think that was the most fun thing about being with Asami….

“Korra? Are you alright? You're turning red,” Asami told me.

“What? I'm fine. Yeah, totally fine,” I coughed quickly, trying to hide how deep my voice had gotten. The only person that managed to tease me worse than Mako and Bolin was Asami herself. I don't know how she did it, she could be evil and it was funny but that didn't mean I wanted to make things easy for her.

She smirked and I just _knew_ that I'd failed to hide anything from her. It was getting harder to do that all the time.

“No you aren't. What were you thinking about, _Avatar?_ Surely nothing that would distract you from what's happening?”

“Of course not! How could you think I'd be able to focus on anything else right now?” I asked, pretending to be scandalized by her question.

“I don't know,” Asami smiled as she moved to sit in my lap. “You could easily be thinking about the fact that you'll be _very_ busy for the indefinite future. Too busy to spend time with anyone.”

We'd pack later. We had kisses to make up for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Progman, your time to shine!
> 
> ~Rotation Order~
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], [BlueRaith], *Progman*, Sy_Itha, iviscrit, apnsb, SimplyKorra, Ruminant Monk, michellemagly, WordsToShare  
> Repeat.


	4. Scene Breaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varrick breaks the game.
> 
> By Progman

“Uhm. Actually, could we just do it here?”

Asami pondered that notion for a moment, looking around the large, empty and very echo-capable council chambers. Voyeurism? Exhibitionism? Probably...probably the first one. Definitely the first one. She could work with that. “Yeah, that would be more exciting, wouldn't it?” She smirked.

“Yes. Yes it would.” Korra blushed a little and pointed to the chair at the right end of the large table. “But not over there. That's Tenzin's seat.”

“Okay, no problem---”

“Or there. Raiko's seat. Or there, actually, because Wu sits there now...come to think of it Tarrlok sat here, and the Fire Lord sits over there...”

Asami blanked her expression and stared at the only chair left. “How about that one?”

Korra winced and bounced on her heels. “Ehhhhhhhhh, Sokka used to sit there, so we probably shouldn't.”

Asami smacked her forehead so hard that the crack did indeed echo through the wide open council chambers. “Whatever. Let's just go deal with this...” She felt her face twitch and struggled to keep her composure under control as she remembered Varrick's rather...untimely mistake. “...giant vine monster.”

“Yeah, somehow I doubt we're gonna be able to talk to it. Which means we'll have to beat it up and somehow move it back into the material world.”

Asami rubbed her chin. That thing was massive, so to actually physically disable it, they'd need something equally large. So, either Giant Blue Korra or--- She snapped her fingers and grinned. “Got it!”

 

* * *

 

  
“...or Varrick does, I guess,” whistled Asami, looking up at the positively massive mecha-giant he'd somehow managed to construct without anyone knowing. It wasn't nearly as uniform or ugly as Kuvira's. No, Varrick's mecha-giant was painted in black and blue, and had a giant plasma saw. And a flamethrower. And rockets. While Asami did not condone the military industrial complex she loved really complicated things.

Korra exhaled heavily and chuckled. “Finally! You didn't say anything for like half an hour so I thought you were super mad at me!”

“What? We had a whole conversation on the way here. We talked about...uhm...” Asami's expression slowly sobered. “...how did we even get here?! Did I drive?” she blurted, looking around the construction site frantically for her satomobile. “Did you drive? Korra, I think we blacked out for a full thirty minutes!” She clutched her head. “What do we do?! What if we missed something important? What if---”

Varrick descended next to them on his rappel cable and lifted his welding mask. “Hey, kids, how we' doin'?”

“I CAN'T REMEMBER HOW WE GOT HERE!”

“Hah! I can't remember what I did five minutes ago! Which is pretty dangerous, considering that I'm building a giant robot! But, what're you gonna do, right?”

Asami blinked and shook out her head. “I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. You're building a what?”

“Giant robot. Pretty self-explanatory.” He pointed up to the mecha-giant. “Y'know. That thing.”

“There's that word again. Ro-bot,” she said, tentatively sounding out the word. “It sounds like gibberish.”

“Well, it's not. It's what I'm makin'!” He flipped an arcwelder around in his hands and nearly set his clothes on fire before putting it out. “...you didn't see that.”

“What's a robot?” asked Korra.

“The...it's right there. You're standing right next to the foot.”

“That's not a word,” said Asami, frowning. “You can't just make up words.”

Varrick scoffed and waved his arms around, accidentally spinning around in his suspended cables. “Well, why not?! How else do words get made?!”

“Because it's a mecha! We already have a word for it!”

“Asami. It's just an automated machine!”

“You mean an automaton.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Automaton. Okay? Means the same damn thing!”

Asami rolled her eyes. “With the exception that one isn't gibberish---”

 

* * *

 

 

Korra fell forward and smacked her head against the mecha-automaton-robot’s controls. “Ow.” She pushed herself up and looked around, finding Asami, Varrick, Bolin, Mako, Opal and...Kuvira in a straight jacket, all in similarly confused positions. And various stages of undress. “How did...”

Asami hopped to her feet. “IT HAPPENED AGAIN! How?! We were just outside of this!”

Kuvira struggled on the floor and rolled around. “Someone please take me back to my cell. I'm getting very nauseous.”

Bolin and Opal blushed and frantically stopped undressing one another. “I feel as though my privacy was infringed upon,” said Bolin. “I didn't ask to just appear here.”

“Yeah, I don't think anybody did,” said Mako.

Varrick grinned and propped Kuvira up against the wall. He patted her head, and she scowled at him. “Well, I did! So at least one of us is a winner!”

Korra screwed up her face. “Oooohkay, so...does this thing have an exit?”

Varrick gestured toward the 'face' of the mecha's bridge dismissively. “Well, sure! How else would you get inside? Okay, bad example.” He clapped his hands together. “Ah! I GOT IT!”

“Got what?” asked Asami.

“It's the Spirit World! All of this vine business is screwing with the barriers between ours and there's, so things can just appear and disappear seemingly at random using trans-spirit pockets of portal...things!” He put his hands on his hips and leaned forward.

Opal crooked her lips to the side and stared at him. “That sounds both crazy and convenient.”

“I know, right? I'll think of a better name later! Now, who's ready to go kick some vine monster spirit patooty?!”

Lin, desk and all, appeared in flash of purple light on the center platform, sending Korra flying against the back wall. She looked up from her desk, scowling, and made hard eye contact with everyone in the room. She settled on Mako. “Varrick?” she asked him, her voice so sharp it could cut through solid platinum.

“Varrick.”

“Varrick!” groaned Asami.

“VARRICK!” shouted Varrick, far too giddly. Everyone just glared at him, and he returned them all with a dissapointed expression. Like a lost polar bear dog pup. “What? I thought we were doing a thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COME ON AND SLAM AND WELCOME TO THE JAM, Sy!
> 
> ~Rotation Order~
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], [BlueRaith], [Progman], *Sy_Itha*, iviscrit, apnsb, SimplyKorra, Ruminant Monk, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Repeat.


	5. A New Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A New Perspective
> 
> by Sy_Itha

It was strange. The weight was unfamiliar to her. Heavier. It made her anxious. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Korra was in the metal thing. She didn’t like the metal thing. She remembered the last metal thing she had fought. They were loud and they hurt her. They hurt _Korra_. She growled softly at the metal thing.

“It’s okay Naga,” Bolin whispered. She felt a hand in her fur, massaging her ears. “Korra’s just going to drive the mech-“

“Robot!” the loud man shouted.

“We’re gonna beat up a big bad monster.” He scratched a little harder. “Who wants to beat up a monster? Huh? I bet you do, don’t you girl?”

She stopped growling and let out a contented sigh. It would be fun to chase something. She glanced up at Korra in the metal thing. _She’d better have treats this time._ There were other people in the room, and all of them were talking at once. The frowny man was talking to the mean cop lady. They were arguing about something. Loud man was shouting large words like “quantum time leap” and something about some kind of fabric unraveling. Naga lowered herself onto the ground, resting her head on her paws. The humans always did this. They would talk and yell at each other endlessly. She wanted to go chase the monster. Whatever it was they were worried about would likely be solved just by-

* * *

 

She was outside. Naga sat up. How had they gotten outside? They hadn’t gone through the door. Naga didn’t remember moving. The others were there too. They looked confused.

“It happened again!” Korra shouted from her big machine.

“We’d better hurry,” the loud man said.

“Alright girl, let’s sniff out the monster!” Bolin patted her shoulder. Naga dropped her nose to the ground. She swung her head back and forth, searching for something new, something bad. Gasoline from the small metal things, people, food, spirits…the smells mixed together, but she could tell each one apart. She kept searching, slowly moving her way forward. There was something new. A smell she couldn’t place. She followed it, breaking out into a run. Bolin screamed and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her neck and holding on for dear life. It felt good to run through the city. Korra didn’t let her do it often and usually there were too many things in the way, but ever since the shiny light beam appeared, there was more room to run, at least in some places of the city.

They were close now, she could feel it. As she kept running, she heard loud thudding, as if something large was walking. It made the surrounding area shake each time. They rounded a corner and she saw the beast thing. It was a large mass of the vines that had appeared all over the city. It had wrapped it’s vines around a building and was pulling it. Her ears twitched. There were people in that building. She could just hear them screaming over the sound of the crumbling building.

Korra charged at the vine beast with her metal thing. Naga wanted to bite the stupid beast thing, but she knew the people needed help. She loped across the street to the building.

“Naga, where are we going! Naga!” Bolin tugged at the reins. Naga ignored him and snapped at his hands. She continued into the building. She could hear the people more clearly now. They were upstairs.

“Spirits, someone’s in here!” Bolin said. If she weren’t in such a hurry she would have rolled her eyes at him. They quickly scaled the stairs, she could see the people, a woman and two kids, huddling in the corner as vines approached them. Bolin bent up a wall to keep the vines from advancing. Naga moved to the side of the lady and –

 

* * *

 

This was Air Temple Island. She knew the smell even before her eyes adjusted to the light. Frantically she glanced around. She sighed with relief when she spotted the people from the building. There was no more metal thing.

“What happened?” Korra asked.

“We lost?” Asami suggested.

Korra frowned. “Where’s the mecha?”

“Robot gosh darn it!” the loud man shouted and stomped his foot.

“Maybe it was destroyed?” Mako asked. He scratched his head.

“The spirit creature is disrupting our time line…” the loud man talked a lot. Naga sniffed the ground. She was hungry. Korra was safe now, no more metal thing, no more vine beast. She padded across the clearing until she found her food bowl. She leaned down to take a bite of her food.

 

* * *

 

They were downtown. Naga whined. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like not knowing how they got places. Something was very wrong. The building looked different. They seemed broken and old. She glanced at Korra. Her hair was longer, there were lines on her face that weren’t there before.

“What the…” Korra stared at Asami. “Asami….you, uh, why do you have a betrothal necklace?”

Asami’s eyes widened. “Y-You do too…” Korra gasped and groped at her neckline.

Korra ran a hand through her hair. “Did…did we…”

“Congratulations?” Bolin shrugged.

“Bolin, you have a _gotee_.” Asami pointed at his face. Bolin quickly patted his face.

“How much time passed?” Mako shouted.

“This is bad, this is _very_ bad.”

“Korra…” Asami was staring at Naga. She didn’t like the way Asami was looking at her.

“What?”

“How long do polarbear dogs live?” Everyone was staring at her now. She cocked her head to the side. Korra looked very upset. She didn’t want Korra to be upset. She made her way over to her and butted her head against Korra’s shoulder. Korra’s hands wound their way into her fur. Suddenly Korra pressed her face against Naga’s neck. It felt wet. Was Korra crying? She whined softly. _What’s wrong? We can fix it. We always fix it._

“We need to fix this, _now._ ” Korra rounded on Varrick. “So help me if anything happens to Naga…” Her voice broke. Asami placed a hand on Korra’s shoulder.

“We’ll figure this out,” Asami murmured.

“So what would it take to undo all this?”

“Well, the vines in this state are likely unstable. It might be drawing energy from any source it can. If my theories about spirit vines are correct, they act as conduits for transferring energy between our world and the spirit world.” The loud man stroked his chin thoughtfully. “We all know that time passes differently in the spirit world, so maybe that’s what’s causing the time skips?”

“If we destroy this thing will the skips stop? Or will it revert back to normal time?” Korra asked.

Asami sighed. “I don’t Korra, I mean we’re dealing with time travel here.”

Korra started pacing. “Well we need to do something before it-

 

* * *

 

Naga felt tired. Her body hurt. Her paws ached. She lay down. It felt good to lie down. It was hard to see, there were strange clouds in the way. The milky colored could things seemed to shift no matter where she looked. She pawed at her face. _Is there something covering my eyes?_

Korra knelt at her side. “Naga…” Korra whispered. Naga lifted up her head and licked the side of Korra’s face. “It’s okay girl. You stay here.”

“Korra we don’t have a plan –“ Mako said.

“I don’t care!” Korra growled. “I’m going to take that vine thing down if I have to do it with my bare hands.”

“Let’s move.” Korra motioned for everyone to follow. Naga tried to sit up, she wanted to go with Korra. She wanted to help protect her.

“No, girl.” Korra sounded like she was crying again. “Stay. Naga stay.”

Naga whimpered, but did as she was told. Korra would be back soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you all thought I was going to write something sexy. Tisk tisk. Ain't no one tells me what to do! CRY FOR ME MORTALS. BOW TO THE DEMON LORD!
> 
> ~Rotation Order~  
> TAG you're it!
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], [BlueRaith], [Progman], [Sy_Itha], *iviscrit*, apnsb, SimplyKorra, Ruminant Monk, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Repeat.


	6. That Escalated Quickly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff happens to people and Naga.
> 
> by iviscrit

The spirit portal seemed to pulsate as they drew closer, a vibrating column of light constantly in flux with panicked spirits spiraling in and out of the golden glow. Each step from the giant mech made the earth shake and the visibility blur, as if the agitation to the densely-clustered vines underfoot was further blurring the lines between the spirit world and the physical world. 

“Whoa!” 

Varrick’s voice came from the mech speakers, colored with surprise. “What?” Korra demanded, her eyes widening as the outlines of the robot blurred with a sort of visual static. “Varrick, what’s--“ She reached out to place her hand on the metal, and yanked it back in horror when it passed through. “Asami!! What’s going on?”

“It looks like the mecha-suit is being affected by the two realities more than the rest of us,” Asami said anxiously. “And the closer we get to the portal...” 

“The stronger the connection between the two worlds gets,” Korra finished, nodding. “But...”

A flare of purple light burst out of the thicket of vines, and the cluster of ropey tendrils seemed to pulse before it began to move with a slow lumbering gait. “Guys, we’ve got to work fast,” Mako said, his brow newly furrowed by some twelve years of frown lines. “Korra, Naga is probably 80 in dog years. The average polar bear dog lifespan--“

“I know, okay?” Korra snapped, forcing the image of Naga, arthritic and eyes milky from the cataracts, from her mind. “Let’s move.” 

They tore off in the direction of the vine monster, but each successive step made the air around them fuzz out, the edges of Varrick's robot increasingly shaded in static. Another purple flare shot into the sky, the trajectory decidedly in their direction. "Duck and cover!" Varrick called from his place above them, the top of the mech beginning to melt from the sudden heat.

"It's aiming for us," Asami said, her voice anxious. Korra felt fingers grasping her own, but they felt curiously unfamiliar. She turned, and gasped. Asami couldn't be more than fourteen.

"Asami," Korra said slowly, "why do I feel like I've committed statutory rape all of a sudden?"

Asami frowned. "Wait, how old am I now? You look about sixteen again."

Korra reached up and grabbed her ponytail. "Wait..." She turned around, and let out a tiny cry. Mako's hair was a distinguished salt-and-pepper grey, while Bolin had regressed back to infancy. Opal looked about thirty, and Varrick was curiously unaffected. "Another time skip?"

"How come we don't have all the memories we've lived, though?" Mako demanded. "I get the chronic back pain, but no word on my--"

"Mako?" Korra said gently. "You're wearing the police chief badge..."

His jaw slackened, and he fell to his knees besides his --now literal-- baby brother. "Beifong... no, it can't--"

"And Naga," Korra said, her head spinning. "How come Varrick isn't affected by any of this?"

"He's encased in platinum," Asami pointed out. "Maybe that's the key here? We've established that platinum is the only metal that can direct the--"

The sky was split by yet another blast, this time with a deadlier aim. "Keep moving," Korra ordered, suppressing her tears for Naga and Lin as she scooped up baby Bolin and pulled Mako to his feet. "Let's end this thing."

They had only been running for a few seconds when the entire robot was consumed in static. "Well, that escalated quickly. Looks like I'm taking a--" Varricks voice died in a rush of indecipherable noise as the mech was transported without warning.

"Now what?" Korra said, panting. "Half the team is underage, we don't have our giant mecha-suit--"

" _ROBOT!_ " Varrick's voice was several yards away, but closer than they'd expected.

"How can he still hear us...?" Bolin looked to be in his thirties again. The goatee was back.

"Asami," Korra said, silently sending up a prayer of thanks that her girlfriend had returned to her proper age. "You said Varrick wasn't affected by the time skips because the mecha-suit--"

" _ROBOT!"_

"--is platinum," she finished. "So why is he more susceptible to teleporting?"

"Platinum seems to be only conductor for spirit energy?" Asami suggested. "I don't know, okay? All this technology is highly experimental... and _illegal_ ," she added, an edge to her voice.

As if in response to Korra's question, the air around them seemed to thicken and swell. There was the strangest sensation of being compressed and stretched at once, and then they were all standing on a pile of rubble, the smashed remains of the Republic City Police department around them. The wall closing off Lin's office from the outside world had been torn away by the regressing spirit vines, and Mako's face paled as he saw a nameplate with his name and a photo of Lin on the bookcase. "No..."

"Naga!" Korra gasped, seeing the heap of white fur. "No--" In an instant she was hugging her beloved animal companion tightly, her tears falling on the cold fur and her entreaties for Naga's return falling on deaf ears.

Asami kneeled beside her, a hand on her shoulder. "Korra, I'm sure we can reverse it."

"She's gone! How can we reverse that?" Korra said, wiping her eyes. "And Lin! And who knows how many others?"

"It doesn't look like time is progressing uniformly for each person," Asami said reassuringly, sitting back on her heels as Korra leaned against her, unable to look at Naga's lifeless body any longer. "Our best bet is to fix this mess with the vine monster. I'm sure everything will be fine after that."

"We're back in the heart of Republic City," Bolin pointed out. "Think we can-- hey!"

Baatar Jr. had appeared in their midst, his perpetual scowl in place and wearing a prison uniform in lieu of his Earth Empire military dress. "What is going on?"

"Vine monster," Korra said shortly. "City in chaos... Naga gone.." She paused. "Wait, what's happening to Raiko and the cabinet? Who's running the country?"

Baatar frowned, taking in the sight of the thick vines coiling back, snaking along the ground in their path to the vine monster. Buildings were being uprooted around them, walls were torn from houses, and as the minutes ticked by, portals opened up at random both in close vicinity and off in the distance. The chunks of rubble and screaming passerby disappeared inside them at random. "Those portals," he said slowly, "do they take their victims to the spirit world?"

"Just different parts of the city," Bolin supplied helpfully. "We were nearly to the big portal --the one Korra and Kuvira made-- but another portal opened up and dumped us here. And now we're beard buddies," he added happily, stroking his chin. "Mine's better, though."

"Just different parts of the city _for now_ ," Baatar muttered. "Who's responsible for this?"

"Like you care," Korra said, standing. "Come on, guys. Let's get moving. The portals don't seem to appear around the vines, so let's hitch a ride." Without another word, she had seized Asami and Mako with Bolin and Opal close behind, jumped onto one of the thicker vines, and effectively vine-surfed away from the remains of the police department.

o0o

Kuvira sighed in relief as the straight jacket fell away from her body, turning to Baatar. "Thanks for that," she said, squeezing his hand. "So... you aren't mad at me anymore?"

His look was answer enough. "I don't have time to be angry with you right now. I want to know who animated the vines, tore a hole in the fragile boundary between our world and the spirit world's continuum, and is about to wreak more havoc than Vaatu did with the first breaking of the barrier!"

"Ah. So that's how I'm out of the psych ward."

Baatar frowned. "Why were you in the psych ward...?"

"Don't ask." She folded her arms behind her back and surveyed the damage. "You know how to fix this mess, I imagine."

"I have a few theories, yes."

"You mentioned the first breaking of the barrier."

"Yes," he said again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The energy in the vines can be released safely, by redirecting it back to the spirit world. What happened here, though... The vines act as portals, but the fact that portals are cropping up and introducing time travel without any warning concerns me."

Kuvira noticed for the first time that the undercut was gone, replaced with a haircut striking similar to his father's, down to the addition of premature grey. She brought her hand to her face and felt a loose lock of hair at her cheek instead of her usual bun. "Have I aged too?"

"You look like you did when we first left Zaofu," he said, shrugging. "The real question we should be asking is whether or not we should help them. Korra held me hostage and ultimately cost us a major victory..."

"But I owe the avatar my life," she pointed out. "The least I can do is try and return the favor."

"Since I just got here," Baatar said slowly, "what exactly is their plan of action?"

"Avatar Korra said something about destroying the vine monster," she replied, frowning as she tried to recall what had happened in all the chaos. "They seem to think that will stop the random teleportation and time travel."

"They want to destroy the vine monster?!" he exploded, his eyes bulging in their sockets. "Have they gone mad? That'll ruin _everything_!!"

"Elaborate."

"The spirit wilds cropped up after Vaatu tore apart the barrier between the physical world and the spirit world," Baatar explained. "The first avatar restored the boundary, but there are still patches across the globe where the two worlds don't quite mesh. The swamp where my grandmother lives is the perfect example of that. These vines serve as portals for the spirits. So does the vine monster."

"You're saying that destroying such a large cluster of vines will tear another portal?" Kuvira said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The fact that these vines are _animated_ ," he said, gesturing to the freakish recoil of the tendrils that were draped along roads and buildings throughout the city, "and the fact that they're slowly pulling back to their center all indicate that the spirit power is highly centralized in the vine monster."

"So Varrick is about to set us back ten millennia."

"Give or take a hundred years." He paused. "Wait, _Varrick_ is responsible for this? Why am I not surprised?" he growled in frustration.

Kuvira stroked her chin pensively. "If we help avert a global crisis, we'd have leverage that would warrant a full international pardon, Baatar."

He regarded her curiously. "And what do you intend to do once you're free of the republic?"

"For a start," she said, smiling tentatively as she noticed the gleam of platinum on his left hand for the first time, "we could go home, and get-- _hey!_ " A sizable polar bear puppy had bowled her over without warning, and was shooting off in the direction of the portal.

"That's the avatar's dog," Baatar said slowly.

"Yes," Kuvira snapped, allowing him to pull her to standing, spitting out fur as she dusted herself off. "By the looks of things, she's got Korra's scent. Let's go."

"Just one question," Baatar said as he fell into step beside her. "According to the lore, people are brought to the spirit wilds when certain forces want them to be there. Republic City is effectively a spirit wild now. Why are we wanted here?"

"Good question," Kuvira said, her words short as she broke into a run. "Worry about it later, I'm not spiritual."

The two tore after the overgrown puppy as the vines sped up around them, sliding over the rubble-strewn streets as they returned to the monster, steadily increasing in power and size.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOT MY NAGA, BITCHES. Progman mentioned Kuvira in his, so... I did what I usually do, hehe. 
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], [BlueRaith], [Progman], [Sy_Itha], [iviscrit], *apnsb*, SimplyKorra, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Sorry for the lateness, but I've just been busy and mopey and now I'm back! apnsb, I CHOOSE YOUUUUU


	7. RUN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can it get worse? You bet Jurassican. - Apnsb

Kuvira skidded around the corner and leapt over a stream of vines that had snaked across the road, stopping in her tracks when she saw the dog had stopped as well. She grunted when Baatar ran into her, nearly sending both of them toppling over. As she regained her bearings, Korra jogged into sight.

“Naga!” Korra shouted, wrapping her arms around the dog when it jumped on her, “I thought I’d never see you again!”

Kuvira kept moving forward, and eventually Korra heard their footsteps and looked up.

“What are you two doing here?” Korra asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “How did you get out of your straightjacket?”

“I let her out.” Baatar explained. “We got brought here for some reason--.”

Korra started to argue but the ground around them shook, dropping all three of them to their knees as they covered their heads. Buildings were crumbling around them and that was the only thing they had in terms of safety.

“What the fuck is going on?” Kuvira coughed, tentatively rising to her feet a few moments later when the shaking stopped.

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Korra pushed herself to her feet and dusted her clothes off as she coughed. “Well since you two are here now, you can help me get back to the others. I heard Naga barking and came this way—I don’t know how to get back everything changes so much in this godforsaken place. At least we can _see_ the spirit portal.”

Naga barked and ran past them, continuing her path toward the portal. Korra turned to take a step after her, but froze when she heard a deafening roar coming from a block or two over.

“Wha—what was that?” Baatar asked, looking around with fear in his eyes.

“I don’t want to stick around and find out.” Kuvira replied.

She grabbed him by the arm, pulling him forward as she closed the distance between them and Korra. They continued down the street cautiously, startled by every noise they heard. Kuvira forced the three of them to move slowly, unwilling to run head first into anything dangerous. The roar sounded again, louder the second time, and the ground began shaking again, almost in time with what seemed to be footsteps.

The noise was behind them well before they got any further down the street. Kuvira wheeled around, looking down at the street corner in shock as a massive beast rounded the corner. It was scaly, and was walking on two legs. Its front limbs were small and drawn close to the thing’s chest. It’s head was enormous, and it opened its jaws and roared at the three of them as they stood frozen in place.

“Um…” Kuvira couldn’t find her voice. “What…what the fuck is that?”

“You remember how you said Varrick would set us back ten millennia?” Baatar whispered.

“Uh huh.” _It’s getting closer_.

“We went back farther than that. That’s…that’s a dinosaur.”

“That’s a lot of teeth,” Korra muttered when it roared at them again, taking several steps closer. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know.” Kuvira heard Baatar swallow hard from her right. “But I think…our best bet…is to run.”

Kuvira didn’t need to be told twice. She grabbed Korra and Baatar both and spun around, sprinting in the opposite direction. She let go of them once she was sure they were both running with her, and she forced herself to remember to breathe as her feet pounded against the vine-covered pavement. The earth shook as the beast began chasing them, and Kuvira’s entire existence became about outrunning whatever that thing was.

“We need to split up!” Baatar shouted. “We can’t let it get to the portal!”

“He’s right.” Korra panted from Kuvira’s side, “Everyone else is there.”

“Baatar go left!” Kuvira shouted when an alleyway came into sight.

She grabbed Korra when Baatar obeyed, and she slid around the nearest corner with Korra at her heels. She felt the heat of several blasts of fire, and realized Korra was firing at the thing with everything she had. Kuvira dove behind a larger cropping of vines, out of the thing’s line of sight, and she paused for a moment to catch her breath.

Kuvira looked around the alleyway she’d brought Korra into, grinning when she saw a broken pipe sticking out from one of the crumbled buildings. _Just what I need_.

“Bring it this way!” Kuvira shouted in Korra’s direction.

“What the fuck do you think I’m doing?” Korra yelled back angrily. “I’m trying to cook the thing! I don’t see your ass helping me!”

“Will you just shut up for five seconds?”

She took a deep breath when silence greeted her, bending the metal in the pipe and severing it into several pieces. That would have to be enough to at least stun the thing.

“I’ve got metal down here, when you’re rea—.” She didn’t get the rest of her sentence out before Korra jumped over the vines Kuvira was hiding behind, sprinting past her and further down the alley.

Kuvira started running too, knowing the monster was going to be hot on her heels. When she heard it roar somewhere close behind her she dared the risk of turning as she ran to look back at it. She needed to stun it, so she immediately began using her metalbending to sharpen each piece of pipe she was carrying with her, flinging them at the creature’s head. She hoped one of them would hit a suitable target, and she wasn’t disappointed when she saw a burst of blood spray from its eye.

Kuvira was paying too much attention to the way it roared in pain, and she tripped over a vine. She slid down across the vine-covered path, vaguely aware that Korra was yelling at her. She felt hands on her shoulders, pulling her back to her feet. The massive beast slammed its head into the wall of the nearby building, still voicing the pain it was suffering from. It collapsed after a few moments, though Kuvira and Korra could still hear its heavy breaths from the end of the alley. It shifted its head, its good eye exposed as it stared at Kuvira and Korra.

“Is it down? Really?” Korra panted.

Kuvira tried to catch her breath, ready to run again and find Baatar. Korra wasn’t moving either, and they stood there for only a minute. A snarl escaped the creature’s throat, and it staggered back to its feet.

“Oh shit.”

“RUN!”

Kuvira tore around the corner catching up with Korra as she sprinted on ahead. She could hear Baatar shouting for them, and when they rounded the next corner they nearly stumbled into him.

“Holy shit you’re both al--.”

“No time!” Korra shouted, “Keep running!”

They turned and began running away from the portal, and Korra dove behind an almost hidden Satomobile that was turned over in the street.

“We need a plan.” Baatar wheezed, sliding behind the car with both of them.

“Well.” Kuvira panted. “What normally killed them?”

“Nothing. They were top of the food-chain.”

“So you’re telling me we can’t kill this thing?” Kuvira looked at him with wild eyes, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.

“I don’t know.”

“Great.” Korra groaned. “First this fucking spirit monster, now we’re travelling in time and— _that_ thing is chasing us. I swear on my life, Kuvira. If we live through this I’m going to fucking k--.”

The Satomobile crumpled behind them, and they found themselves face to face with the monster’s foot. _Great. Fucking great_. Kuvira was on her feet and sprinting away again before she could even think to check on Baatar or Korra. She could see Baatar out of the corner of her eye, barely keeping up with her as she saw Korra zooming ahead aided by a gust of air.

“You just _had_ to put its eye out, didn’t you?” Korra called over her shoulder as Kuvira began gaining ground.

“Hey, at least I tried to do something! All you did was shoot fire at it!”

“Will you two shut up?” Baatar yelled, “All you two did was piss it off!”

“Kuvira started it!”

“I did a better job than you did!”

“You didn’t even fucking do anything! You blinded it and pissed it off! Best metalbender in the world my ass!”

“Shut up and run faster!” Baatar bellowed.

“I swear to god, I will fucking trip you.” Kuvira growled in Korra’s direction. “I will trip you and that thing will eat you and then we’ll go find the next Ava--.”

Suddenly, everything around them went silent. The only thing Kuvira could hear was their footsteps and their breathing. The silence was more terrifying than it should have been, and she noticed it was Korra who had stopped first. Kuvira slowed to a jog, only stopping when she saw Korra’s eyes widen in fear.

“Where…where did it go?”

* * *

 

“Just tell me!” Varrick insisted. “It’s not like we can do anything while we wait for Korra to get back! She’s the spiritual Avatar, she’s the one most equipped—so just _tell_ me!”

“I’m not going to tell you!” Asami’s voice was rising in volume and she crossed her arms, “Because you don’t need to know!”

“Come on,” Varrick prodded, “Don’t tell me you haven’t measured before, Asami. You know you have!”

“I have not! All you need to know is that they’re big.”

“Big. Right. I got that. They’re _really_ big.”

“I have _never_ measured Korra’s arms before, Varrick.” Asami huffed. “Why is this even relevant?!”

“Just tell me before Korra gets back!”

“ _If_ Korra comes back,” Mako huffed from nearby. “Naga came back without her. And we don’t even know what that noise was a few minutes ago--.”

“Listen,” Varrick rolled his eyes and took a step closer to Mako. “Korra can handle it. She’s the Avatar! She’s got this. She doesn’t need a polar bear dog pup to help her…”

Varrick continued talking, but a loud roar similar to what they’d heard earlier drew Asami’s attention.

“Uh…guys?” Bolin spoke up from behind Asami, and she turned to follow his gaze.

Her eyes eventually found what Bolin was looking at, looming over two dozen feet above the street-level. It was stalking toward them with one yellow eye trained on them. Asami felt her jaw drop at its sheer size, and she reached out blindly until she grabbed Varrick.

“Varrick. Varrick listen. Shut up. Look.”

When he did, Asami heard him let out a gasp, and she knew whatever it was, wasn’t good.

“Oh no…” Varrick muttered. “This is just fantastic!”

“What _is_ it?” Mako asked.

“You don’t want to know pal. You really don’t.”

“Varrick…” Asami growled in warning.

“It’s hungry.” Varrick replied after a moment. “Angry, too. We’re dinner.”

_A spirit monster and now this? Great._

“What do we do?” Asami asked as she began backing up. The portal seemed almost out of the question without Korra there.

“Whatever we do....we better hope it’s fast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no explanation for this. So, SimplyKorra, it's your turn. This was fun.
> 
> ~Rotation Order~
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], [BlueRaith], [Progman], [Sy_Itha], [iviscrit], [apnsb], *SimplyKorra*, Ruminant Monk, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Repeat.


	8. Mine's Bigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no plan. There is absolutely no plan.
> 
> by SimplyKorra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SimplyKorra here, ruining characters and lives.

“What are you doing?!” Mako whispered as he and Asami hid behind a rock.

Asami stopped the pencil in her hand and sent a sideways glance at him. “N—Nothing!”

“Are you drawing?” His eyes went wide as he leaned over and looked at her work. “Are you drawing the thing that’s chasing us?!”

“No! I mean...shut up!” Mako’s mouth fell open in shock as he reached for the paper only to have his hand swatted away. “Stop it!”

“What are you doing? It’s trying to eat us and you’re making it a self portrait!”

From across their hiding spot, Varrick cleared his throat. “She’s drawing it because she’s never seen anything like it before and she’s wondering if it’s structural design could benefit her in anyway. Which is _brilliant_!”

“Exactly,” Asami glared at Mako. “This is my work, I can’t shut it off.”

“We might die, Korra might _be_ dead!”

“Korra’s fine,” Asami waved him off and continued drawing.

“How can you work at a time like this?”

She sat her pencil down and refocused on him. “This is why we didn’t work as a couple Mako. Because you never took any interest in my work.”

“No,” Mako corrected with his own voice raising. “We didn’t work as a couple because you wanted to eat out my other girlfriend!” Asami gasped and Mako winced. She then pushed him and he fell from behind his rock cover and onto the dirt. Panicked, he scurried back to his hiding spot and hugged his knees. “I’m sorry, okay?! I don’t know what’s going on! We’re in the spirit world, Korra’s gone, Naga died and came back, there’s a giant mecha chasing us—“

“Robot!”

“Kuvira’s running around, Bolin had a goatee and I have had to pee for like two hours. It’s all a little overwhelming!”

Asami sighed and picked her drawing back up. “That’s okay, because if I can figure out where a structural weakness is in this thing, I can help us take it down.”

“How? You’re not twenty stories tall and where did you get paper?”

“I always carry paper around with me just in case of…well…of moments like this!”

Suddenly the sound of footsteps drew closer and Asami looked up to see that Varrick and Zhu Li had run from their hiding spot and were now standing in front of her.

“Give me your work.” Varrick demanded as he reached for it. Asami pulled it away and stuck her foot in his chest. “Zhu Li, get her work!”

Asami kicked him away. “What are you doing?!”

“I’m agreeing with your plan but, as the better engineer, I should be the one who sorts out this plan!”

“ _You’re_ the better engineer?” Asami scoffed. “I’m pretty sure _my_ hummingbird suits stopped Kuvira. You two were on the ground while I was cutting through it’s leg!”

Varrick’s smile only grew wider. “Exactly! You were great then, but this is my turn now. Besides. I want to ride the T-Rex!”

“The what?” Bolin suddenly popped up next to Asami, making her jump and fall into Mako who pushed her away. “What’s that?”

Zhu Li started to answer him monotonously. “Tyrannosaurus Rex is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex—rex meaning "king" in Latin, commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is one of the most well-represented of the large theropods—“

“Listen,” Varrick interrupted. “It’s a giant dinosaur, it has a really strong jaw and cute little arm.”

“Yeah,” Bolin said with a grin. “I caught a little bit of it when it first showed up. It’s very cute.”

“Where is it now?” Mako asked as he turned to peek over the rock. “Why isn’t it killing us. Shouldn’t we be dead?”

Asami sighed and put her paper away. “I don’t know. It blinked in a little while ago maybe it _blinked_ out again. Doesn’t matter.” She reset her eyes on Varrick. “I want to know why you think you’re a better engineer than me!”

“Oh for spirits sake,” Opal chimed in as she leaned over Bolin’s shoulder. “Will you two stop with the penis measuring contest and focus so we can all get out of here alive!”

“Hey,” Asami pointed a finger, never looking away from Varrick. “I don’t have a penis. But if I _did_ it’d be at _least_ three inches bigger than his!”

“Asami!” Someone cried out and Asami shoved Varrick away as she stood up in a hurry. “Asami!”

“Will you stop screaming!” Another voice, well, screamed. “You’re going to draw every crazy ass thing in existence onto us and then we’ll be dead!”

“That’s Korra!” Bolin cried out as everyone stood up and watched as Korra, Kuvira and Bataar came jogging up to them. “You guys are alive!”

Ignoring Bolin, Asami raced over to Korra and threw her arms around her. “You’re okay! I was so worried!”

“Me too, you’re so beautiful and sweet. I missed you so much.” Korra kissed her deeply and Asami broke back for only a moment.

“I missed you too.”

They kissed again, right in front of everyone, for another few seconds. From where he stood, Mako could see Kuvira’s lip curling as she took a step back from them and walked over to where he stood.

When they finally broke apart, Asami gently tucked a strand of hair behind Korra’s ear. “When you were gone, I knew you’d be okay, because you’re strong. You’re the strongest person I have ever known and even when we’re apart I know that you love me, and that I love you and—“

“Is she always like this?” Kuvira muttered into Mako’s ear. “With the speeches and stuff?”

Mako sighed. “Not always, just when he’s writing.”

“What?” Kuvira quirked a brow.

“Nothing.”

A flash of light danced in the sky, glowing over the mass off the trees around them and suddenly, the dinosaur was standing in front of them.

It staggered for a moment, clearly unsure of what was happening. But when it noticed them across the small bit of water that separated them, it roared loudly.

“Wow!” Varrick breathed as the roaring stopped. “I want to ride it!”

“What?” Mako, Opal and Kuvira all shouted in unison.

Asami’s shoulders slumped. “No, he’s right. I want to ride it too.”

“Maybe if we put a leash on it.” Bolin said as he stepped up next to Asami.

“Okay you guys,” Korra backed away from Asami and pressed her fist into her palm. “I’m going to take this thing down.”

“What?” Kuvira laughed. “You were just running from it five seconds ago screaming. _Now_ you’re going to take it down.”

Asami turned quickly and stuck her finger in Kuvira’s face. “She can do it.” She glanced back at Korra. “Right? You can do it?”

“I can,” Korra nodded, taking a deep breath. “I totally can. Stand back everyone!”

As they all moved away from where Korra was standing, the dinosaur started to stomp closer and closer towards them. It traversed through the water with ease, stepping out back onto dry land as it’s foot sunk into the moist earth at the shore. It roared again and Korra closed her eyes. Feeling all the energy of a thousand life cycles coursing through her. She was the Avatar. She was power and strength and the protector of this world.

“ _Ahhhhhhhhhh!_ ” She screamed and raised her hands up to let the wind carry her into the air so she could lock eyes with the giant creature.

“Um,”

“Korra,” Asami whispered sharply. “What are you doing?”

Opening her eyes, Korra looked over to see that she was still face to face with Asami. “Are my eyes not glowing?”

“No.” Mako stated as he looked between her and the advancing dinosaur.

“I—I’m not flying then?”

Asami sighed. “No, sweetheart, you’re still on the ground.”

“Huh,” Korra looked down at her feet and pouted. “I guess the Avatar state isn’t working right now. “

Kuvira groaned loudly and shoved Mako aside. “This is just great. Just fucking great! Can we run now? Or go through the portal. Can we _get out of here?_ ”

“Damn,” Korra frowned. “I really thought that would work.”

The dinosaur roared again, this time the sound shook the ground beneath them. 

"Guys," Mako stammered as they all started to move backwards. "I don't have to pee anymore." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really added nothing to this story, I'm sorry lol. 
> 
> I believe Ruminant Monk is up next ;)
> 
> ~Rotation Order~
> 
> [Beech27], [silkarc], [BlueRaith], [Progman], [Sy_Itha], [iviscrit], [apnsb], [SimplyKorra], *Ruminant Monk*, michellemagly, WordsToShare
> 
> Repeat.


End file.
